Generally regarded as the greatest left-handed bowler of all time, arguably among the very best fast bowlers ever, and an outstanding all-rounder, Waseem Akram is a Pakistani cricket player who helped lead Pakistan to the World Cup championship of one-day international (ODI) cricket in 1992.
Frequently regarded by both cricket historians as well as analysts as the greatest left-arm bowler of all-time. Has also been regularly cited by several great batsmen as the best bowler they ever came across, including West Indian Brian Lara, South African Jacques Kallis, Australian Ricky Ponting, and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara.
He made his first-class, ODI, and Test debuts within the space of three months at the turn of the 1984–85 season as a teenager, and, barring periods of injury or political upheaval, was thereafter a regular member of the Pakistan side, which he captained frequently before his retirement in 2003. Polite and eloquent, Akram was a great favorite in all parts of the world, most notably in England, where he produced several devastating performances with both bat and ball for his county, Lancashire.
Waseem Akram represented the Pakistan National Cricket Team in 104 tests and 356 One Day Internationals, taking 414 and 502 wickets respectively, the latter stood as a world record for 8 years before Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan overtook it in 2011.
In 2001, Waseem Akram was voted by Wisden as the best ODI bowler of all-time, ahead of West Indian Joel Garner, Australian Glenn McGrath, fellow Pakistani Waqar Younis and South African Allan Donald.
He was the Man-Of-The-Match in Pakistan’s victory over England in the finals of the 1992 World Cup for scoring 33 runs and taking 3 wickets, including 2 in successive deliveries which is considered as the turning point of the match. He was also the highest wicket-taker of the tournament.
Notable Achievements:
- Selected by ESPN as the 21st greatest cricketer of all-time in 2000.
- Represented Lancashire in English County Cricket for 10 years (1988-98).
- In 2013, Akram became the only Pakistani cricketer to be selected as a part of Wisden Cricketer’s Almanac Dream XI on the 150th anniversary of the magazine’s edition.
- Wisden Cricketer Of The Year, 1992.
- He was awarded Man-of-the-match in 17 tests, which equates to every sixth test of his career. He was also Man-of-the-match 22 times in ODIs, which is a considerable accomplishment owing to the fact that ODIs are mostly dominated by batsmen or at best by all-rounders.
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